Gophers Basketball – Page 149 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Gophers Use Predictions for Motivation

Posted on October 4, 2013October 4, 2013 by David Shama

Andre Hollins calls it a “slap in the face.”

The Gophers’ best player is using predictions by college basketball writers that his team will be among the worst in the Big Ten Conference as motivation. “I think we can be a surprise team. …Nobody really knows what to expect, expecting us last. That’s the motivation that we’re using.”

Hollins, who led the Gophers in scoring last season at 14.6 points per game, is one of two returning starters from a team that finished 8-10 in Big Ten Conference games and 21-13 overall last season. He and Austin Hollins were starting guards last season but forwards Rodney Williams and Joe Coleman, and center Trevor Mbakwe, are no longer part of a Minnesota program with a new coach in 31-year-old Richard Pitino.

Basketball writers see a program in transition with changes in personnel and a new coaching staff. They forecast a challenging winter for the Gophers playing in the Big Ten, perhaps the nation’s best conference.

Andre Hollins said the Gophers, who have started fall practice preparing for their first exhibition game against Cardinal-Stritch at Williams Arena on November 1, are embracing the changes. “Much more energetic, enthusiastic. Just the whole program,” he said.

The team’s best players are likely to be the guards. The strategy could be to compensate for lack of size and talent in the frontcourt by playing wide open basketball — fast breaks, quick shots, full-court defense, double teams, and force turnovers.

The Gophers want opponents to panic and to do so Hollins is already seeing the importance of conditioning for himself and teammates. “We’re playing hard-nosed full-court defense an hour twenty minutes in practice,” he said. “I don’t think many teams do that in the nation.”

Hollins, a junior, has been known as an offensive player but when asked about personal goals for the season he said, “Be the best player I can be. Pick it up defensively. Be one of the best defending guards in the nation.”

Hollins said he improved his defense during the summer and made a comparison with how the Gophers will play defense this season versus last. While former coach Tubby Smith had players deny passes, the Gophers now will ease off on that so not to be vulnerable to backdoor cuts to the basket by opponents.

Hollins also said he’s learned to be more vocal, an attribute that will help him as one of three newly elected captains. Austin Hollins and guard Maverick Ahanmisi are the other captains.

Worth Noting

Forward Mo Walker, 6-10, has lost about 50 pounds and looks like a different person. Andre Hollins said Walker can now keep up with 6-11 center Elliott Eliason in running drills. Eliason is known for his ability to run up and down the court.

The Gophers haven’t set an October date when practice will be open to the public but plan to do so.

Pitino has converted the gym adjacent to his Bierman Building office into a practice facility. A wall has been constructed with power operated window shades to provide privacy. On the wall are video monitors showing images including of Minneapolis, the University campus and celebrities such as Ricky Rubio and Adrian Peterson.

The facility has a nearby locker room and showers. It is intended more for individual instruction, with the Gophers also using Williams Arena with its larger floor on practice days.

A passionate and knowledgeable Twins fan, disappointed with the decision to re-sign manager Ron Gardenhire for two more years, sent this e-mail to Sports Headliners: “After so many losses over the last three years, it’s hard to believe a change wasn’t made. Only in Minnesota do we accept such mediocrity on a consistent basis. I love Gardy as a person. It just seemed the right time to go in a different direction.

“What I find interesting is the Twins point to the A’s, Pirates and Rays and tell you a big payroll isn’t necessary to win. That may be true but then it’s an indictment of the team’s baseball operations department for failing to draft, sign and develop players that make an impact. If a team isn’t willing to spend money, then it better draft and develop well. Some of the Twins first-rounders like (Chris) Parmelee, (Trevor) Plouffe, (Aaron) Hicks and (Kyle) Gibson made it to the bigs but don’t appear to be impact players. Others, like (Denard) Span and (Ben) Revere, were traded before the start of the season.”

A guess is Gardenhire’s new deal pays him between $1.4 and $1.6 million annually. Baseballprospectus.com lists his two-year total compensation at $2.5 million for 2008-2009, but offers no figures more recent.

The Gophers (4-1) play at Michigan (4-0) tomorrow in a 2:30 p.m. ABC regionally televised game. The Gophers haven’t won in Ann Arbor since 2005 and have two victories in Michigan Stadium since 1980. The “Big House” has an official seating capacity of 109,901 but 115,109 saw the Wolverines defeat Notre Dame last month – the largest crowd ever to watch a college or pro football game.

Senior defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman said younger teammates might be somewhat “star-struck” playing against college football’s all-time winningest program in such a famous venue, but they need to know it’s “just a regular football game.”

Two years ago it wasn’t a regular game, as Michigan embarrassed Minnesota 58-0 in the “Big House” before 111,106 fans.

The Gophers average of only 27.4 penalty yards per game is the best among Big Ten teams. Coach Jerry Kill stresses in weekly meetings the importance of minimizing penalties.

“You wouldn’t want to be in here (the meeting room) after a ballgame and you were one who made a dumb penalty because it’s going to go up on that screen. That’s called the Daily News.” Kill said. “We all get educated through the Daily News and it helps because it’s not degrading anybody. This is why we didn’t score. This is why we kicked the field goal because we lined up wrong. So we’re gonna get that corrected. ‘Yes, sir.’ Okay, move on. So that’s kind of how we try to teach.”

The defensive secondary might be the Gophers’ top unit, comparing favorably with the best in the Big Ten. Safety Cedric Thompson thinks so and believes the unit is better than last year. “We’re a lot more physical, smarter and faster,” he said.

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier didn’t want to tell his players that because of the team’s unexpected poor start and 1-3 record they had to spend part of their bye week at Winter Park working: “I think it’s important that our players get a chance to get away, take their minds off some things for a little bit and also…get re-engaged from a physical standpoint as well. So I think this is the right decision. We’ll come back on Monday, get started on the next opponent. …”

Vikings rookie wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson has turned heads with his kickoff return ability including a 105-yard touchdown return against the Bears last month. He is averaging 33.8 yards on 12 returns and was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September. Frazier allows him freedom about making decisions about whether to return a kickoff or down the ball in the end zone for a touchback.

“Yeah, we do have a lot of trust in him for sure,” Frazier said. “We have some parameters on when he can bring it out and when he doesn’t, but it’s not by yards. We think he can return one 109 yards, 108 yards and he’s done 105 so we trust his judgment. We do have some things we talk about when it comes to where the ball is kicked when he has to not return it, but he’s made good decisions up to this point.”

It wasn’t complacency that ended St. Thomas’ 36 game regular season winning streak last month. “Gosh, no. No way,” coach Glenn Caruso told Sports Headliners yesterday. “We would not tolerate it.”

The Tommies lost 20-18 to St. John’s on September 21 and had a bye last weekend. Caruso was surprised how poorly his team played “at times” against the Johnnies, committing five turnovers after a focused week of practice. “It was a great reminder of how strong the rest of the conference has gotten,” he said.

The Tommies are home for a 1:10 p.m. game tomorrow against Carleton, another MIAC opponent. Caruso said the St. John’s loss doesn’t end the dream of playing later this year for the Division III national championship but the Tommies need to focus on the present each week.

State basketball legend Janet Karvonen, now 50, is finishing studies at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, according to the latest issue of MVP Magazine. Bob Brown wrote in his story for the southeast Minnesota sports publication that Karvonen plans to intern at Living Waters Lutheran Church in Lino Lakes. “It’s still a new thing for women to be ordained as pastors,” said Karvonen who grew up in the Lutheran church.

The Lynx open the WNBA Finals on Sunday night at Target Center against the Dream. Single game tickets start at $26.

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Stakes High in U Facilities Future

Posted on August 28, 2013August 28, 2013 by David Shama

When athletic director Norwood Teague announced his $190 million plan to upgrade Gophers athletic facilities earlier this summer few people ever thought about Minnesota’s future as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Perhaps they should have.

There might come a time when the Big Ten decides schools that aren’t investing in their athletic programs are also not worthy of membership in the historic conference. “I think that’s a possibility,” Mark Sheffert told Sports Headliners.

Sheffert is a University of Minnesota alum, Gophers fan and supporter, former president of First Bank System and now CEO of Minneapolis-based Manchester Companies, a company providing strategic and financial planning to businesses. He’s also a personable guy with a modest manner who has the respect of local leaders in the business community and at the University of Minnesota.

The Gophers have fallen far behind in athletic facilities compared with schools in the Big Ten and elsewhere. The needs list includes the often publicized absence of a basketball practice facility for men’s and women’s teams but goes way deeper. A football complex, academic center, training table, women’s gymnastics facility, wrestling training facility, Olympic sport indoor practice facility and outdoor Olympic sport track were all in the details Teague announced last month.

“There was a report a couple of years ago that showed Minnesota was second to last (in the Big Ten) in re-investing (in facilities),” Sheffert said. “Purdue was last. We were also second to last in donations to the athletic department.”

That’s the kind of stuff that one day might lead to head scratching in the Big Ten office in Chicago about Minnesota’s future. The Gophers not only are behind in facilities but the football program has mostly been in free fall for decades. Every conference school has been to the Rose Bowl more recently than the Gophers who last visited Pasadena in 1962. Minnesota hasn’t won a Big Ten football championship since 1967.

In basketball, the record the last four decades is better but doesn’t exactly glitter. During the past 15 years the Gophers have mostly been second division finishers in the Big Ten. Before that period there was the embarrassing and expensive academic scandal of the coach Clem Haskins era that wiped out a Big Ten championship and NCAA Final Four appearance. Even further back in Gophers basketball history there were other sanctions by the NCAA.

The high profile sports of football and men’s basketball are what drive the big revenues in college sports today. The profits made are sometimes stunning. Texas, for example, had about a $71 million football profit for school year 2010-11, according to a December 28, 2011 article by Businessofcollegesports.com. The Gophers’ football profit of approximately $13.5 million ranked No. 30 in the nation (down from No. 25 the year before). The profit in basketball of about $9.5 million ranked No. 47 in the country among football and basketball programs. The potential to grow profits at Minnesota is considerable in both sports.

Minnesota’s annual share of the Big Ten TV income pot is over $21 million and without it the Gophers athletic department would operate in the red, likely unable to sustain a 23 sport program that includes 12 women’s teams and 11 men’s teams. “If we don’t make investments in our sports, I think the Big Ten Conference will look for teams that are investing and will be competitive,” Sheffert said. “You don’t watch two teams (on TV) not investing in their programs and who are battling for last place in the standings. If you’re an advertiser, you don’t buy time with two teams last in the conference.”

Athletic departments have to “think like a business” and “take stock” of weaknesses, Sheffert said. In a visit he made to Lincoln, Nebraska to study the Cornhuskers athletic facilities he saw what the better programs are doing.

The Gophers have one practice field for football. At Nebraska Sheffert saw three fields, creating opportunities for the offense, defense and special teams to each have their own space.

The Gibson-Nagurski football complex where the Gophers practice is about 30 years old and Sheffert said it has a leaky roof. The building is sometimes shared with the softball and golf teams because of the minimal indoor facilities for Gophers teams.

Passionate college football fans know that schools like Ohio State, Michigan and Nebraska have far superior facilities to Minnesota’s. The comparisons are striking, even when it comes to meal time. “The (Gophers) football team eats dinner in the hallway (at Gibson-Nagurski),” Sheffert said.

At Nebraska there is a large dining room. Sheffert said football players and other athletes see food offerings that are color coded at the training table, helping to guide selections depending on whether athletes are preparing for game days or practice days. “You don’t even have to think what you should eat,” he said.

At Minnesota a donor stepped forward to buy more computers to help athletes with academics and close a small gap between what the Gophers have in technology compared with other schools. Those same athletes sometimes receive tutoring in open settings while at other schools there are private rooms. Places like Michigan and Nebraska have elaborate programs to track and tutor athletes, creating more likelihood athletes will perform better academically.

Sheffert said at those schools the athletic departments have their own orthopedic doctors and pharmacies on-site. Such resources can influence parents and recruits who at a place like Nebraska will even be impressed by the setting for the coach’s office. Bo Pelini’s office doubles as a suite and looks out over Memorial Stadium.

Ask Gophers coach Jerry Kill if he can lose recruits because of facilities and he will say yes. He has a new stadium that opened in 2009 but there’s so much more to the facilities picture than where a school plays seven or eight home games each year.

All of this doesn’t even address basketball where the Gophers and Northwestern are the only Big Ten schools without designated practice facilities other than their gameday arenas. At Nebraska, Sheffert was impressed with the Cornhuskers’ facilities including the technology. The Huskers not only have multiple practice courts but players can sit at their lockers and swipe a card to study game action of themselves on computers. In the showers they can swipe cards to hear favorite music.

Sheffert said at Nebraska, unlike Minnesota, there are separate weight rooms for football, basketball and wrestling. And this fall the basketball team will be competing in a new $180 million arena.

It’s not just Nebraska, Michigan and a few others that are investing in their programs. Google searches quickly show $55 million projects either completed or in motion for other Big Ten schools. Oregon has opened a $68 million football complex that is so lavish it commanded a photo spread in Sports Illustrated this summer.

The August 5 issue of the Businessofcollegesports.com reported that Utah has opened a $32 million football facility. Duke is working “in earnest” on a $100 million facilities plan, according to the website. The Air Force Academy is considering a $50 million-plus renovation of its football stadium.

“We continue to fall behind…teams that are competitive,” Sheffert said. “We have to start with the idea that football, basketball and hockey are the entertainment business. They are (played by) student athletes and we owe it to them to provide the best facilities (for academics and athletics) that we can. We are at a competitive disadvantage when recruiting the best players in the country.”

The disadvantage goes beyond facilities. Kill has been at the bottom of the Big Ten’s salaries for head football coaches since he came to Minnesota in 2010. Presuming Kill continues to improve the Gophers football product, Minnesota will become increasingly at risk for losing a popular coach who is admired around the country not only for his football IQ but also his moral values and concern for the community.

So far Kill has been able to hold on to his assistant coaches although it’s a group that is far from the best paid in the Big Ten. Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover and defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys don’t rank among the top 10 paid coordinators in the league, according to a May 4 Espn.com story by Adam Wittenberg. In a league where only 18 assistants make less than $200,000 per year, 15 of them work for Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana, according to Wittenberg.

Sheffert assesses the financial landscape at Minnesota and voices optimism. “I view it as a great opportunity,” he said. He is part of a group that has dialogued with Teague and University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler.

Sheffert knows more than a little about money and he said there are different ways to finance facilities improvements. Those options can include fundraising but also borrowing money in a responsible way while taking advantage of favorable construction rates as the economy continues to recover. “We may have to take a risk but we take a risk by not doing anything,” Sheffert said.

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Gophers Still in Mix for Tyus Jones

Posted on August 19, 2013August 19, 2013 by David Shama

Tyus Jones has now made multiple unofficial visits to the University of Minnesota and the Gophers remain a solid possibility for his college choice, according to his mother, Debbie Jones.

Jones and his mom met with Gophers coach Rick Pitino and staff last week. “It went really good,” Debbie told Sports Headliners yesterday. “We had good conversations with the coach and coaching staff.

“He (Tyus) is still considering it (Minnesota). After the official visits (to other schools) we will sit down and talk about them. He is not leaning toward one (school now).”

An official visit is paid for by the school while an unofficial is at the family’s expense. Per NCAA rules, recruits are allowed only five official visits.

Jones, the Apple Valley High School senior point guard rated by Rivals.com as the second best player nationally in the class of 2014, is planning official visits to Baylor later this month, Kentucky in September and both Kansas and Duke in October.

Debbie said four visits, and not five, allow the flexibility of scheduling one more official visit and that could be to Minnesota. “You can get a little more in-depth with things (on official visits),” she said.

It’s interesting that Michigan State’s Tom Izzo pursued Jones early and often but the Spartans aren’t on Jones’ list of schools for official visits. “He just made a decision he wasn’t going to take an official visit there,” Debbie said. “They are still in contact.”

Worth Noting

A hockey source told Sports Headliners an announcement will be made this week that the Gophers men’s team will host Ohio State in the first outdoor hockey game at TCF Bank Stadium on January 18, 2014. The defending national champion Gophers women’s team will also play that day against Minnesota State in a doubleheader being promoted as the Hockey City Classic. The games will be part of Hockey Day in Minnesota and likely televised on the Big Ten Network.

Chicago-based Intersport, a sports and entertainment marketing agency, is playing a major organizing role with the event, according to a source who requested anonymity. Intersport, in partnership with Soldier Field, was involved with last winter’s Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field that included the Gophers and Badgers men’s teams.

While the Gophers’ stadium has been mentioned as a site for a future NHL Winter Classic Game, the game will likely be scheduled at Target Field, possibly on January 1, 2015.

Big Ten hockey’s initial season will be in 2013-2014 with six schools participating: Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin. The Big Ten has scheduled a media day on September 19 in St. Paul with all six head coaches in attendance.

Gophers coach Jerry Kill will have his 52^nd birthday on Saturday.

Kill is one of three coaches on the ballot for the Southern Illinois All-Century team that will be introduced on September 14 at Saluki Stadium. Kill coached at Southern Illinois from 2001 through 2007, taking the Salukis from an initial 1-10 record to 12-2 in his last season.

The Goal Line Club is hosting the first of five Gopher Gridiron Luncheons on August 28 at Jax Café. The public is welcome and each luncheon will include a member of the Gophers coaching staff who will talk about the program. More at goallineclub.com.

The Gophers open the season at home against UNLV on August 29 and the Rebels’ roster includes wide receiver Jerry Rice, Jr. The son of the NFL Hall of Famer, Rice is a transfer from UCLA where his stats as a junior included seven catches for 52 yards.

UNLV’s athletic director is Tina Kunzer-Murphy whose husband Greg Murphy earned a letter playing quarterback for the Gophers in 1983.

The August 19 issue of Sports Illustrated has only one Big Ten team in its top 10 rankings of college football teams. That’s not a surprise after recent years of sub-par performance by league teams. Ohio State is No. 4, with Michigan State No. 15, Michigan No. 18 and Northwestern No. 22. Northern Illinois, the school where Kill coached before joining the Gophers, is No. 24 in the magazine’s top 25.

If the Twins continue to play sub-.500 baseball in 2014 it will be interesting to see how many season ticket holders renew tickets for 2015. Speculation is some season patrons are renewing for 2014 to have priority buying tickets to next summer’s MLB All-Star Game in Minneapolis. Those who choose to resell their All-Star tickets could use the money to cover a portion of season tickets expenses.

The risk patrons take in dumping their tickets is losing their prime seat locations when superstar prospects Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano arrive at Target Field within a couple of years. The issue of Sports Illustrated referenced above has a six-page feature on Buxton and Sano, rated the No. 1 and 3 players in Baseball America’s prospect rankings of minor league talent. “Imagine having the next Bryce Harper or Mike Trout in your system—then imagine having them both,” S.I. wrote in an article titled “Glimmer Twins.”

It seems possible but no certainty that after three losing consecutive seasons the Twins will part ways with Ron Gardenhire this fall, the team’s manager since 2002. Even the most ardent Gardenhire supporters wouldn’t argue the Twins could create a new look and gain a fresh start with a new field boss. “Sometimes you make a change for change sake,” a passionate fan said.

The contrary argument is the Twins’ top decision makers recognize the lack of talent Gardenhire has been given. He is popular with team management and has earned a reputation for being cooperative.

The reorganized Timberwolves roster has 14 players who are 6-6 or taller. Seven of the 17 players on the roster are 6-9 or taller. Flip Saunders, the team’s president of basketball operations, expects the Wolves to be better defensively than last season because “We’re going to have great length.”

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